Ways to Connect

A cup of java jolts those who enter MoAv Coffee at the corner of N 25th Street and Montana Avenue in the historic Carlin Hotel built in 1913. Jeff Hosa, co-owner of MoAv coffee confessed, “We always say we are nerds about coffee.” From dawn to beyond dusk, this gathering space offers caffeine to bring pulse to life in the mornings or calm through wine and beer later in the day.

The two, James Beard and IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) recognized cookbook authors and teachers returned to Montana to help raise scholarships. The class, based on Iyer’s latest book - Smashed Mashed Boiled and Baked-and Fried, Too! paid tribute to potatoes from around the world.

Emblazoned on Chef Josh Cannon’s knuckles are the words “COOK THIS.” As the Executive Chef at the recently opened SEVA Kitchen in downtown Billings, he had obviously declared his passion for food. Together with Owners Harvey Singh and Schuyler Budde, he hoped to bring “globally inspired flavors” to his guests.

Executive Chef Bernard Guillas recently participated in the 25th MSU Billings Wine and Food Festival teaching a class entitled Spring Fling – Sharing the Love. The title of the class embodied the spirit of Guillas, a Frenchman living La Jolla near San Diego, California. The man exuded charm packaged with passion for food and living. As the head culinary leader for the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club and Marine Room restaurant, Guillas not only impressed the locals, especially the women with his multiple air kisses, but also with the art he created on the plate.

In my email the other day, I received a note from Lena Olson. Lena worked at City Vineyard for seven years before taking on a sales position at Winegardner’s Wines. Eventually she went to New York and now continues to consult in the wine and food industry there. As for her reason for heading to the Big Apple, she said, “I wanted to go to the biggest ‘baddest’ place to see what happens.” So I was intrigued to hear from her.

Fifteen minutes from downtown Bozeman is the Gallatin River Lodge. On Jack Rabbit, the road to Big Sky is a sign with a cowboy riding a trout. For those who choose to turn at W Valley Center Road, a 20-acre retreat anchored by a log-hewed building awaits. Vistas of surrounding mountains and an on-site pond provide bucolic views for the 12-room “luxury boutique hotel.” Executive Chef Scott Meyers presents artistry on the plate to nourish both the appetite and the senses.

At Tippet Rise, passion rendered music, erected life-sized sculptures, and created food. Chefs Nick Goldman and Wendi Reed of Wild Flower Kitchen cater with energy and gusto at the 10,260-acre art and music center in Fishtail, Montana. Amongst the musical notes and wide-open spaces, they feed world-renowned performers from afar, and guests arriving for chamber music recitals or tours of the vast sculpture park.

Ox Pasture features local big sky flavor. For Executive Chef Chris Lockhart, seasonal produce and products from the environs around Red Lodge shape his menu planning. Local bounty plays the starring role backed by flavors and food from afar. Contributors to the local offerings include Laurel Farmers Market, owned by Leslyn and Greg Johnson. Even more, “local” also applies to the strong community support, filling the restaurant with eager patrons who have become regulars at the popular restaurant.

The world of wine ferments its own speak. In describing the aroma, taste and sensation in a glass, descriptors abound. Flavors of fruit and non-fruit are not purposefully added to wine, but develop as grape juice ferments into a spirited drink. The words used to communicate what is sensed come from experience and memory. We identify smell and taste from what we have already sensed in our lifetime.

Most morel mushroom hunters keep secrets, stored deep in the chambers of their minds, holding the location of mushrooms past. This burden of hiding information, and then the want of recognition, sometimes compels them to share what they know, only to be held back by protectiveness and paranoia.